Chapter 74: A Rare Find of Compatibility
Lu Xiaofeng enjoys meddling in other people's business, but he dislikes trouble. Therefore, Lu Xiaofeng likes to meet beautiful women, but he never likes to meet women who bring trouble.
But making friends is a completely different story.
He enjoys all interesting people, so he has friends all over the world; he is not bound by many worldly conventions, so he can make friends with all sorts of people. In any case, Lu Xiaofeng will never back down on this matter.
He wiped his mouth, calmly placed the two jars of wine on the ground, and then, seemingly unconcerned about Shaman's gaze and the awkward atmosphere, casually picked up where Xie Huailing left off: "That's absolutely right. But Miss Xie, who in this world would put a brick in their porridge to drink?"
Xie Huailing lazily didn't even bother to lift her eyelids. She glanced at the two small mustaches on his lips, recognized his identity, and replied, "So what? Let's just say that bricks can't be put into rice porridge."
When she saw the wine on the ground again, and thinking of the man's "interesting" comment, she deliberately said, "A chivalrous person of such high standing comes to talk to you for no reason. Do you have a lot of free time?"
Lu Xiaofeng put on a serious expression, shook his head and said, "Idle? I'm not idle, not at all."
Then he smiled slightly: "On the contrary, I'm very sweet."
"What a lame joke," Xie Huailing asked sincerely, "Don't you think it's awkward?"
Lu Xiaofeng pondered for a moment, then exclaimed, "Is there?"
Shaman hugged her arms, feeling a chill. She saw the two of them fall into an eerie silence, with Lu Xiaofeng seemingly deep in thought. Xie Huailing, on the other hand, stared intently at Lu Xiaofeng with her unblinking, listless eyes. Her gaze gradually brightened and remained fixed on him, finally revealing a glimmer of life.
The serious environment of Jinfeng Xiyu Building has truly been a source of frustration for Xie Huailing for a long time; the original workplace atmosphere is the real winner.
While she was sighing, Lu Xiaofeng spoke again. He also sensed Xie Huailing's inexplicable appreciation, but still said meaningfully, "Actually, I was just passing by. I planned to bring some wine to drink. After all, one of the two most enjoyable things in life is drinking and having fun."
Xie Huailing, ever perceptive, followed his words and asked, "Then why haven't you gone yet?"
"Because of the two most enjoyable things in life, the other one is making friends, and the most enjoyable one is drinking with friends," Lu Xiaofeng said slowly and deliberately.
Xie Huailing raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding his meaning, and changed the question into a statement: "You know who I am, right?"
Lu Xiaofeng was still smiling. He was indeed a man of great chivalry, understanding her unspoken meaning. He then asked her in return, "Who in the world doesn't know him?"
Then they stared at each other, countless things flashing through their minds—life and death, intrigue and scheming, and so on—but need not be mentioned. In that brief moment, Shaman's bad premonition struck again like a peek through the rain. Before she could speak, Xie Huailing, having seemingly come to some realization, waved to her, signaling her not to follow. This irresponsible, hands-off boss said, "I'll be right back."
Then, she left with the person she had only met for less than a quarter of an hour.
Watching her boss's dashing figure disappear into the distance, Shaman's urge to hurl insults grew stronger, to the point where she couldn't even articulate what she wanted to say. She often felt she couldn't control her tongue, but finally, remembering Xie Huailing's promise to use his connections to get Su Mengzhen a promotion after they got back, and considering her own significantly increased salary—three or four times higher—she forcibly suppressed her anger.
It's fake. It wasn't suppressed at all. She's going to write a letter tonight to complain.
.
Xie Huailing sneezed as she walked. She rubbed her nose and immediately knew that her outrageous behavior had once again drawn Shaman's secret scolding.
This was still considered giving her some face, at least it was done secretly. Xie Huailing was as calm as a still mirror. She walked side by side with Lu Xiaofeng, with a few fists' distance between them, and they chatted casually for a while.
Passing through several spring scenes, a courtyard appeared before them, the deepest extension of the white stone path. Lu Xiaofeng, carrying the wine, first burst open the half-closed courtyard gate, then, without a word, took two steps at a time and forcefully pushed open the wooden door of the house, as if he were the one who lived there.
"Hua Manlou, let me guess what I've brought this time!"
The young man, engrossed in sipping his tea, sat at the table, his wrist unmoved by the sudden noise; the tea remained perfectly still in the bowl. He took a leisurely sip, and as the aroma of the tea wafted around him, Lu Xiaofeng slammed the wine on the table with a flourish. He then sighed softly, "You're really going to take all of Chief Ren's wine."
Lu Xiaofeng's thick skin would never be broken by such a casual remark. He laughed and said, "Good wine is meant to be drunk by people. What's the difference between good and bad wine? I even brought a jar of the best to take on the road. Guess what? I also brought someone with me."
Hua Manlou naturally noticed it as well. Although he had been blind since childhood, his senses were far more acute than those of ordinary people. If it weren't for the slight dimness in his eyes, it would be impossible to tell whether he had an eye disease or not. As soon as Lu Xiaofeng finished speaking, he turned his head, his gentle and refined face "looking" in Xie Huailing's direction.
Xie Huailing was still standing at the door when she closed it. Hua Manlou smiled, as if spring had arrived, and seemed to see jade branches covering the trees. She asked tenderly, "Is this Miss Xie?"
He remembered Xie Huailing's footsteps and recognized him instantly.
Xie Huailing first wanted to nod, but then remembered that Young Master Hua Qi had difficulty seeing, so she changed her mind and spoke, saying, "Young Master Hua Qi."
"Just call me Hua Manlou." Hua Manlou's tranquil nature can be seen in just a few words. After saying that, he "looked" at Lu Xiaofeng and said indifferently, "It seems you are lucky to have made another great friend."
Lu Xiaofeng feigned anger and said, "Am I, Lu Xiaofeng, not a remarkable person?"
Hua Manlou smiled and said, "A drunkard can't be considered a remarkable person. Bringing friends over but not inviting them to sit down can't be considered a remarkable person either."
The teasing was quite ironic. Instead of getting angry, Lu Xiaofeng laughed and, realizing his mistake, pulled out a wooden chair and invited Xie Huailing to sit down.
Listening to their conversation, Xie Huailing knew she had come to the right place. They were undoubtedly rare and dear friends, and certainly not the dull characters that Bianjing was full of. Su Mengzhen's face, unable to utter a single word of eight jokes, flashed before her eyes. She took the cup handed to her by Hua Manlou, feeling a pang of pity for herself; her longing for Bai Feifei was either zero times or countless times.
"I haven't asked Miss Xie's name yet." Since Lu Xiaofeng wanted to be friends with her and had brought her here, he definitely had to ask her name.
Unlike her reputation as "the one who can cut the sky with her bare hands," Xie Huailing's real name is known to very few. This is perhaps due to her status as Su Mengzhen's cousin, which prevented her name from spreading along with her fame. If one had to count, only a few people in the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion, along with Wuqing from the Divine Marquis's Mansion and a few from the Six and a Half Hall, would know the exact characters of her name.
But to be precise, there was nothing he couldn't tell others. Xie Huailing introduced himself: "Xie Huailing, Huai as in Huaibi, Ling as in Lingtai."
Then she pushed the empty glass in front of Lu Xiaofeng and pointed to the unopened jar of new wine: "I want to drink this, fill it up."
Lu Xiaofeng had reserved this jar of wine for his journey, the best one he'd swiped from Ren Ci. He couldn't believe Xie Huailing wouldn't notice, and said with a pained expression, "Isn't this what I was going to keep?!"
Xie Huailing repeated what he had said, adding his own modifications: "Good wine is meant to be drunk by people, why bother with keeping it or not?"
Lu Xiaofeng glared and puffed out his cheeks. One second passed, then two seconds, and finally, muttering something about "being taken advantage of," he opened the wine jar and poured Xie Huailing another cup. He wasn't actually angry. Then, his expression changed as he urged her to drink more, saying that once the wine was opened, it couldn't be left unfinished.
Xie Huailing thought of the days when he stole wine from the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion. The last time he drank to his heart's content was when he went to meet Di Feijing: "I won't leave you a single drop."
The two clinked glasses and immediately became fast friends.
Hua Manlou had never expected Xie Huailing to have such a personality so different from what was rumored. He couldn't help but sigh. His surprise was noticed by Hua Manlou, who was much calmer than others: "Rumors are not to be believed. Miss Xie is much more straightforward than I had heard."
"I heard? That..." Xie Huailing could guess what kind of image she had. In fact, she had shamelessly participated in spreading rumors and had narcissistically contributed to fabricating her reputation, but she would not say it.
She would simply shift all the blame, as if she had done nothing wrong: "It's just hearsay, and it's hard to tell what's true and what's false. Besides, people in Bianjing all say the same thing, so it's easy for people who haven't met me to mistake me for someone else."
“That’s true.” Lu Xiaofeng nodded in agreement, then lowered his brow as if recalling some unpleasant events. “Last time I went to Bianjing, I came back after only two days. Everyone who stayed there for a long time had a stern face. Even if they smiled, it was mostly a smile hiding a knife. Some were even less cheerful than Ximen Chuixue, as if asking them to smile would be the end of the world. The more important the person, the more like that they were.”
Hua Manlou, hearing his words were offensive, wanted to remind Lu Xiaofeng that Xie Huailing was also among this group, and that she came from the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion, while her cousin was the leader of this group.
Actually, quite the opposite is true. There's no need for Hua Manlou to worry. Xie Huailing put down his wine glass and let out a long breath.
When Hua Manlou thought she was going to correct Lu Xiaofeng, it was like meeting an old friend in a foreign land. If she weren't expressionless, she would have almost burst into tears and said with boundless enthusiasm, "It's the truth! There couldn't be a more accurate statement!"
The two clinked glasses again, and Xie Huailing was finally able to pour out all her grievances: "Not a single one is wrong, it's really all like this. Forget about getting them to laugh, it feels like it's difficult to even get them to give any reaction."
She clearly had someone in mind, and unusually, she launched into a long, rambling monologue: "What's more, what's more, you might as well talk to the grass by the roadside than talk to him. His reaction is exactly the same as the grass's reaction, and sometimes it's even worse than the grass, because at least the grass will listen to you finish what you're saying. A very few people will only hear half of what you're saying and then start giving you something to say. If you spend too much time with him, you feel like your interest in telling jokes has been completely worn away."
She sighed deeply again, not mentioning a word about her own problems. Xie Huailing remained silent, only drinking.
Lu Xiaofeng could empathize with Xie Huailing very well. He knew all too well how much torment this was for someone like him who wanted to find some fun. It was like putting him in a pot of boiling oil. He even felt a little sorry for Xie Huailing: "That's too boring. There's no hope for the days. How are we supposed to get through the days in Bianjing?"
“There’s no other way, it’s my work area,” Xie Huailing said calmly. “I can only find other ways to kill time. For example, I might sleep more in the room, read more storybooks, bother my subordinates, steal some of other people’s late-night snacks, and occasionally throw in some unfinished documents…”
Realizing something was wrong, Lu Xiaofeng suddenly turned to look at her: "...What are those next few? They completely went astray starting from the third method!"
"Forget about whether it went astray or not, just tell me whether time has worn it away or not."
"This isn't something we can just ignore. We should check on other people's lives from time to time, shouldn't we?"
"The moment you said 'occasionally,' you lost the right to criticize me."
Lu Xiaofeng coughed and then spoke in his all-knowing voice: "In short, I feel that what you were talking about with that 'someone else' or 'very few people' wasn't anything serious, and suddenly I don't feel very sorry for you anymore."
"You can't say that. He's the one who brought me here, and he's probably already upset about it." Xie Huailing picked up his wine glass again. "Besides, the fact that he still put me by his side shows that he himself hadn't thought it through."
Then the two of them clinked glasses for the third time after they finished talking.
Hua Manlou observed the whole thing and felt that every word he said was problematic without even needing to think about it carefully. He expressed his incomprehension but respect.
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